


Dream a little dream of me

by reasonably_good_toast



Category: Magisterium Series - Holly Black & Cassandra Clare
Genre: Aaron is dead, Calron, Character Death, Dead Character, Death, Everyone Needs A Hug, M/M, Magisterium, Not Really Character Death, Sad, Sad and Happy, Sad with a Happy Ending, Soul Bond, WHAT WE ALL WANT TO HAPPEN, a few weeks after the last book, aaron is not really ever dead in this one, but not really, but she's still here, dream - Freeform, dream state, my take on the ending, set after the silvermask, tamara isn't the main focus, tamara rajavi - Freeform, the silver mask
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-05-15 10:36:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14788916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reasonably_good_toast/pseuds/reasonably_good_toast
Summary: It's been weeks since the battle. Callum is healing slow. Mages are fixing fast. In a dream state Callum meets his best friend again, but is a dream ever really that simple?Basically: Aaron isn't dead. Mages are conspiring. Callum needs a hug.





	1. First

**Author's Note:**

> I've added more onto the first chapter since it was first published, so please reread! Also something is wrong with the format, so I'm so sorry if things look a bit weird.  
> I accept all feedback and would love to hear how you feel about this

In the short, timeless moments of my dream, there seems to be nothing but the two of us. The war has no effect here, and in this suspended moment, I feel myself fully relax for the first time in weeks. He stands there, looking so close but feeling a galaxy away and my whole soul pulls stronger than ever to go to him. When the soul wants something, it’s a strange feeling, like when you’re on a rollercoaster and the cart makes a sharp turn, but with less thrill and more pain.   
The hazy landscape around us is familiar, a small park him and I discovered near the beach over two years ago, when he stayed over during the holidays. I feel like I never fully appreciated how wonderful those days were.   
The only noise is the air and the ocean. Deep, cold turquoise crashing against the sand and shell and rock. A constant, almost reassuring beat, carelessly creating a melody with the wind.   
Deafening.   
The sun looks perfectly round, magnified by my imagination, half hidden by the sea. It warms both my heart and the atmosphere, making everything glow gold.   
And then, there is him. Aaron.  
Not a single thing is off about his appearance. All dirt and grime on him at the time of his death is gone as if someone had scrubbed him clean.   
Aaron. The unnatural, dull eyes he’d worn after I brought him back last year, that I’d gotten used to are gone and bright once again. Colour changing, shifting shades of emerald staring straight at me.  
Aaron. His teeth perfectly white and straight in a smile that crinkles up his face in the most beautiful way possible.  
Aaron. The simple clothes he had worn at during the battle were fresh. The dark jeans and plain white shirt.   
Aaron. All just so him. He is wearing the chain Tamara gave him around his neck and his Magisterium band pushed up his arm. Everything I miss about him.  
A slight breeze plays with his hair, making it perfectly messy as the sun behind him creates a halo, enhancing the ethereal feel of the situation.  
My feet finally give in, stumbling, trying to reach him while I open my mouth to call his name, but I am momentarily mute.  
When I reach him, “Aaron,” Spills from my lips, a desperate whisper and I embrace him, squeezing tight. It feels so real, exactly the same as when he was alive.   
“Call! You can see me?”   
I pull away, confused.  
“What do you mean? Of course, I can see you, this is my dream.”  
For a reason I do not yet understand, Aaron smiles “Oh Call, this is so much more than a dream.” He takes me by the hand and leads me to a seat, sitting on a cliff, overlooking the sea.   
“Everything here feels so real. It’s strange, My dreams are never like this. I have to remind myself that you’re dead.”   
I think to myself, what I would give for this to be real.   
Aaron shakes his head, frowning, “No Call, this isn’t just another dream. I am here. I am real.”  
I let go of his hands, “What do you mean?”  
“I can’t explain it.”  
“Try”  
His face scrunches up and he is silent for a moment. “Do you,” He pauses again, “Do you remember the time you told me about Master Joseph entering and speaking to you through your dream?”  
I nod.  
“It’s like that. I think? Magic is at work that we never learned of. I don’t know where I am or how much time has passed, but I have been traveling through what I think are other people's dreams. I’ve had to guess who’s heads I’ve been through. Sometimes it’s easy. Sometimes it’s impossible.” He explains to me, unsure, but truthful.  
At first, all I can feel is confusion, “How do I know that you aren’t someone else creating this illusion? What if I am making this up as a coping mechanism. What if I died unexpectedly and this is the afterlife?”  
Aaron gives me an exasperated look, “Call, that just got ridiculous. You’re over thinking. I am here. Your pal. Normal and not weird and undead.”  
Slowly I nod. A thousand questions still race through my mind but I decide, nothing bad can happen in a dream, why not hope?   
“Well then, Aaron. If you’ve been through heaps of heads, why hasn’t Tamara or Jasper or my dad told me anything about you contacting them?”  
He sighs, “They couldn’t see me, I was just watching, not interacting. You are the first person who’s seen me. That’s why I was so happy when you noticed me.”   
I nod a couple of times thinking. A smile grows on my face, “Does that mean you’ve been in Jaspers head?”  
Aaron laughs, then stops, pretending to shiver, “You don’t know what I’ve seen, man. Oh, his dreams are painful to watch.”  
The two of us double over, cackling like madmen. It feels real. All so real. I feel foolish for being unsure about the situation, so unprepared.   
The two of us sit in silence for a few minutes, content and happy, until I realize something, “Wait. If you can not only be in my dreams but other peoples as well, that means you are not just a remnant of your soul hanging onto mine. You must be alive somewhere!”   
Aaron’s frown unexpectedly forms again, “If I am alive why wouldn’t people know? Who has my body.”   
My head hangs as my smile falls, “I don’t know. The Assembly hasn’t told us anything about anything since the battle. Tamara, Jasper and I have practically been under house arrest. The only thing I know is that your body was taken in a truck after, you know… you died.”  
“You have to find out who has my body, now.”  
I hesitate. “Do you think that maybe,” I cough because I know that what am thinking is childish, “Maybe I could stay here with you. Just a little longer?”  
Aaron’s eyebrows furrow, as if he just remembered what emotions I had been going through up until this point. Pain, sorrow, longing. “Okay. Just wake up soon. You don’t want to be stuck like me.”  
I smile, “There are much worse ways I could be stuck.”

~~~

My dream is made of paradise. The sunset, gold and neverending is strange in my dream. I can’t actually feel its warmth, but all my memories of feeling warm have been triggered, creating a replica of the mellow heat. The serenity of the scene is so melancholic my head spins, slight but constantly.  
I start to wonder. How much time has passed? How much more can I waste in this heaven my mind has created? Would the world be better if I stayed in this state? Would my trouble stay out of other people's lives and the world become peaceful?  
No. I can’t afford to think like that. Aaron is more than a dream, more than a fantasy and he doesn’t seem to want to stay. No one else can reach him and as the cause of his death, I owe him so much. This is the least I can do.  
As my mind starts to think again of the outside world, everything blurs. Aaron’s smiling face falls, “Call? What’s happening?” He attempts to grab my arm but his hand falls through as if I am made of smoke.  
I jolt back, “I must be waking up.” I say, more curious than concerned.   
Aaron starts freaking out. He keeps talking, but the sound seems to be blocked by something. It’s as if he’s talking through an old radio with a bad connection, “Call, don’t forget this. You always tell me you forget most of your dreams as soon as you wake up. Find my body and don’t forge-”   
The sound is no longer able to be understood, but I get the idea of what he’s trying to say. I nod, not sure if he would still be able to hear me and run this dream over and over again in my mind, determined not to forget. 

Aaron is alive. He’s traveling through dreams. Find his body.


	2. Second

‘Call? Call? Call!’

‘Wha’ the fuck?’

‘I’ve told you to watch your language, Callum.’

I sit up, groggy, head spinning. Alastair stands in front of me, frowning.   
‘Oh. Dad. Sorry, I had a weird dream.’

He raises an eyebrow, ‘Weird enough I can let you go off swearing?’

I rub the sleep out of my eyes, disorientated, ‘I… don’t remember. But I do remember there was something important?’

‘Right,’ Alastair turns around and flicks my light on, ‘well it was only a dream. I’ll put the cereal and juice out for when you get up.’ He pauses, ‘Try to do something productive today. I know you’re not supposed to leave the house much and you might still be feeling the after-effects of the battle. Power exhaustion or something similar. But it’s almost been a month and you and Havoc are driving me up the walls.’

‘Yeah, I’ll take Havoc out.’ I decide.

Alastair nods, ‘After you do that, you can help me fix up the garage, it’s a mess.’

‘Okay.’

He frowns, ‘You alright Call?’

I nod, and he leaves but I can’t shake the strange feeling something important has happened. Or going to happen? I don’t know.

I do as my dad says, heading downstairs and get myself fed. I start thinking about Aaron, a topic I try to avoid like the plague.

I’ve been told by everyone I didn’t kill him. They’re right, I didn’t just kill him. I killed him twice. Why did it have to be him? All our problems would have been solved if Alex had just pointed the Alchaheist at me. If Tamara had pushed Aaron out of the way. If I hadn’t been so fucking stupid. And it’s just ridiculous when they try to tell me not to feel bad about the second time. I was fine and he gave away my- no his soul. This has never been done before, what if I just have a weak soul? What if we just needed to wait and have a little more time? What if my soul was enough to sustain both of us and it's just my lack of strength that got him killed?

Most of my thoughts these days are what ifs. 

Of course, my Evil Overlord point system has started up again and so far I’m worse than probably half of Constantine Madden’s followers. I let my best friend die twice. I can’t stop thinking about that fact the most. I don’t even know how painful it is to lose your soul, how selfish is that?

Of course, I haven’t told Alastair. I’ve already talked to too many councilors and therapists. Magical and normal. The atmosphere is so depressing and unhelpful I begged Alistair to pull me out. I don’t even know why he agreed. 

While wallowing in sadness isn’t my ideal, I don’t know what else to do. They don’t teach you what to do after you kill your best friend in school. 

Talking to Tamara is something I’ve put off for the past three and a half weeks. That added some more Evil Overlord points; ignoring the one friend you still have. After everything that happened, the one time we saw each other I decided to break off whatever relationship we had established during those messed up times. Things are just too different now. Bad as it may seem, I can’t deal with someone else’s problem at the moment and all I want is to be alone. My own emotions confuse me and the last thing I want to do is lead Tamara on while I can’t figure myself out. Kind of a dick move after everything she went through, but being a dick seems to be a recurring pattern with me. I just can’t face her at the moment, though the little voice at the back of my head tells me differently. Ah well.   
Things will figure themselves out eventually. Or maybe they won't.  
I look down, my cereal has turned to mush. I sigh then chug my juice, throwing my unfortunate breakfast into the trash. I guess there’s nothing I can do.   
Ugh.

~~~

The rest of the day is pretty much like every other day I’ve had for the past three and half weeks. My dad could see down I was, so we got burgers for lunch, which was nice. 

In one way though, my day has been increasingly strange. Little flashes of my dream have been coming back to me. I’ve been able to figure out that the dream was about Aaron, which explains why I’ve been thinking about him so much. In the dream, I felt happy? At one point I was laughing. It just makes me hurt inside now. Like some whiny teen in one of those cheesy coming of age movies. Thank God I’m not like that, right? 

The conversation Aaron and I were having was important. That much I remember. How can a dream be important?

You’ve had important dreams before. You have even talked to people, what if you talked to Aaron?

Dumbass. I thought to myself, He’s dead, even you’re not that powerful. 

But what if…?

I sit up on my bed suddenly. He tried to tell me that he was alive. But that’s not possible, right? You said it yourself. Dreams can be more. Aaron said it too. Everything seemed so real. It’s all just flooding back and I don’t know what to make of it all. Check! Ask about his body. Is it where everyone says it is? 

I run downstairs, feet slapping loudly as I puff, dizzy from moving so quick. I skid across the hall until I'm faced with the brown door of Alistair's “home office” and knock fast, twice. 

I barely wait for the soft, ‘Come in.’ before I push and enter. 

‘Hey, Call.’

‘Hey dad’

‘What d’ya need?’ 

I place myself down beside him, not sure how to ask the question. It’s strange, no matter how I put it, but I don’t want him thinking I’m hysterical at the moment, ‘Well I’ve just been think, you know, because there’s not much to really do, and I'm wondering what happened to Aaron's body? Because I haven’t seen it since… you know… since it happened and they said there would be another funeral, but we haven’t received an invite?’

My dad shuts his laptop and sighs, ‘Callum, I’m sorry, but I really don’t know anything. Everything the Council has told me, I’ve told you - which we both know isn’t much - and things have been so crazy, I hate to say it, but a funeral is the last thing on most peoples minds.’ 

‘Not on mine.’ I grumble though I know it's probably true. What does everyone think? What have their friends- or past friends- been told? Does everyone think Aaron won’t stay dead and a funeral is a waste of money? I have no clue what people might think.

Alistair tilts his head slightly and gives me a sympathetic smile, ‘Is there anything you want to do?’

I sulk back in my chair, like how I would when I was younger, I’ve always hated pity; because of my leg, and now because of this, feeling bad for me doesn’t help me in any way, in fact, it just makes me feel helpless. 

Then I think, what do I want to do? There’s a lot I want to do: drown myself in mint choc-chip ice cream, ask out that cute girl at the end of my street, raise Aaron again from the dead, get a new skateboard. Teenager things. Unhelpful things. 

Could I talk to Tamara? After all, she probably will understand everything the most, and I can tell her about the dream. But, there is like an 80% chance she won't even speak to me and a butler will throw me by my shorts off of their property. Fuck it.

Why not. I’ll see Tamara, finally face one of my biggest fears- along with clowns-, I’ve been forcefully removed from somewhere before, this time there will just be a bit more feelings. Is it something to do right?

‘Dad, can I visit Tamara?’ 

He smiles super wide ( which these days is kind of rare, so if I'm honest I'm a bit scared ) and nods, ‘Of course. It’ll be good for you to have a friend.’ 

Into the fire we go then.


End file.
